A SECRET deal to sell council-owned land has been scuppered after details were leaked this week.

Waverley councillors were set to be asked to approve the sale of Cranleigh's Littlemead Industrial Estate on Tuesday.But the item was withdrawn from the council meeting because of the leak and the site will now be openly marketed in the new year.

Last week the authority's Executive Committee, meeting behind closed doors, agreed to recommend to the full council that an offer of £150,000 should be accepted.

Other businesses on the industrial estate only learned what was happening when a copy of that confidential recommendation was made public without authorisation.

When he found out, mail order company boss, John Mills, was outraged that others had not been given the chance to bid for the site.

He asked: "Why is it all being done hush hush? Surely it's not in the public interest."

However, the council insists it was originally prepared to accept the deal because it was considered by an experienced officer to be the best way of maximising its assets.

The authority's assistant chief executive, Anne Bott, said: "He was making a balanced judgement as to how he would achieve the best return and he recognised that what was on the table was a very sound commercial offer that he thought was unlikely to be bettered."

She said the council had now decided to openly market the site more widely, though there was a concern that the marketing costs will outweigh any benefits of an improved offer.

Mrs Bott said the value of the site to the council was limited because the authority does not have vacant possession.

Waverley owns the freehold of part of the Alfold Road industrial estate, although some companies based there do own the freehold of their premises.

The company at the centre of the row is specialist food producer Charles Gordon Associates, which had initially been negotiating with the council for an extension of its lease.

During these talks, managing director, Andrew Gordon, said the company asked the council if it would be possible to purchase the freehold of its own site.

"At the same time we did say that if there was an opportunity to purchase the entire estate we would be interested," he said.

The council appeared more interested in that, said Mr Gordon, than simply selling him the freehold of his own premises.

"We have been working with the council for 18 months and not getting very far, then suddenly it has blown up very quickly," he added.

"We are not here to profiteer from it - we just want the freehold of our own site," Mr Gordon said, explaining that if his company did acquire the estate, the aim would be to offer other companies with leases the freeholds of their own properties.

He said he was also baffled by the figure of £150,000, for as far as he was aware no figures had been agreed regarding the purchase of the whole estate.